If you are experiencing pain due to illness or injury, you should visit a pain management clinic. Also, you have to consider seeking treatment from a pain management doctor who is trained in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of pain. This physician undergoes a general residency, as well as a fellowship in pain management, and a board certification in a specific specialty.
In pain management clinic, pain management doctors, however, focus their attention and expertise on working with chronic pain patients whose needs can be difficult to diagnose, and who require multiple therapies to treat. The most common types of pain treated by pain management doctors are low back, knee, hip, and neck pain. They treat various conditions, including fibromyalgia, migraines, sciatica, and more.
Specialists in pain management
Anesthesiologists often handle every aspect of pain management, from prescription medication to surgery. Currently, anesthesiology and pain management are two separate specialties, and choosing the right provider requires knowledge of the differences.
The field of anesthesia has traditionally offered pain management. Anesthesiologists have grounded knowledge (theoretical, practical, and professional experience) of medications and pain medications. They are conversant with various types of nerve procedures known as epidurals. Two categorizations of pain management physicians exist. They are: (1) those who perform interventional procedures and (2) those who treat patients medically.
Interventions to manage pain
Physicians in this subset are familiar with advanced techniques and procedures such as nerve blocks, spine injections, and spine implants. Anesthesiology residents follow a five-year residency in interventional pain management with a one-year pain management fellowship.
There are also physiatrists with pain management fellowships through their specialty – called PMNRs (physiatrists). Pain management is also an option for neurologists.
Management of pain through medical means
In keeping with the name, these physicians treat patients who have chronic medical conditions that require long-term treatment with opioids. Family medicine doctors, internal medicine doctors, or psychiatrists can all be medical pain management specialists. An interventional pain management doctor would not see a patient on methadone for chronic pain.
Specialists in pain management are especially helpful when it comes to wading through the numerous new laws and regulations about pain medications (more on that later). To help eliminate the risk of dependence or addiction, they ensure you take the right dose and for the right amount of time.
Talk to the experts at the pain management clinic to learn how a pain management doctor can assist you with your pain issues.